here. >> appreciate it. that's going to wrap things up here for us. stay connected at cnn.com/sanjay. let's keep it going on twitter. time to get your check of your top stories making news right now. >> from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, this is cnn sunday morning. air raid sirens as people run for cover in the middle east. as fighting escalates between israel and hamas, world leaders urge peace, but could we see a ground war in gaza before it's all over? >> asia tour. president obama arrives overseas to strengthen economic and political ties in asia, including a visit to myanmar, the first u.s. president to do so. >> j-date. jewish singles using their faith and the web to find the perfect love match. it's our paces of pait.

and end of an icon. the maker of twinkies, wonder bread and ding dongs says good-bye. >> i'm viktor blackwell in for randi kaye. >> i want to start this hour with something we heard from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu this morning. we are prepared for a significant expansion of the operation. he is talking about the possibility of ground troops going in behind the air strikes on gaza. israeli war planes have been hammering gaza city for the past few days. ham whereas militants inside gaza have been pirg back matching israel bomb for bomb with their rockets. that has sent civilians scrambling for cover. our frederick plankin is live in southern israel, and i can see that you are standing there with something over your shoulder, a part of israel's iron dome

missile defense battery. how active has that been today? >> well, viktor, it's been very active. it's actually right over there. what this system consists of, it's obviously got a battery of rockets, and i also got a very sophisticated radar system. what that radar system does is it constantly scans the horizons and constantly scans the skies. when it sees something come up like a rocket welcome back a fraction of a second it makes a decision whether or not to launch a kill. i can tell you the iron dome heats in the field behind us has been very active since we've gotten here a couple of hours ago. we have seen several missiles launch just less than an hour ago. a lot of those were intercepted. one landed only about 300 yards next to our position, so that was quite a close call. especially today the iron dome has been in action a lot simply because there have been so many rockets launched out of gaza. not just in this area, but -- this is also very significant,

into the area of tel aviv, which, of course, is the largest city. a rocket was intercepted there by an iron dome battery, but that shows that the people that are launching in gaza still have the capabilities to reach very, very far and to reach very large israeli population centers. viktor. >> we're going to go to gaza city in a moment to check on that side of the story, but how are the israelis coping with this constant threat of the rocket attacks? >> well, it's obviously very difficult. it takes a big toll on your regular life. what the people here do is they try to stay inside most of the time. it's interesting, you know, places that are around the gaza strip, they have somewhat of a routine of dealing with all this. they take these alarms very seriously when they come. they get hit by rockets even m best of times, so they certainly do take this very seriously. they go inside, and every time they go outside they really plan their route in a way that they are always very close to a hardened shelter somewhere where they can take cover. if they're not, then they stop their cars and get out and hit

the deck just in preparation for an impact that could come. right now, yes, it is taking a big toll. taking a big toll also on commercial life, and this always needs to be said, it is taking a very big toll on the children here m towns outside of gauze wra and the israeli towns. a lot of the kids very traumatized. we went to a family the other day, and the children there have been to be inside for such a long period of time. of course, that gets on their nerves. at the same time they are very afraid of hearing these sirens constantly throughout the day really, viktor. >> fred plankon. we'll go to gaza city in a moment. but right now let's go to the middle east news desk monitoring the latest developments between israel and gaza. flick has been with us all morning. we're seeing palestinian groups are ready now for a cease-fire. what are you hearing on that front, nick? >> there are efforts underway right now. good morning, viktor, whether or not it's realistic in being flagged as realistic, that's mother story. i want to show you something

here. we're at the international desk. this is the hub for the news gathering information. wrerl we heard from sarah seidner who is in gaza, and she was telling us about al acksah tv. it was hit by an idf air strike. ali, play that video here. new video coming in from the idf. now, they're saying they surgically targeted a hamas communications facility in gaza, palestinian militants seeing it a little differently. they're saying the idf is deliberately targeting journalists. as cmn reported earlier, there were some journalists injured in this attack, ms air strike, so just appreciate video coming in, and that's exactly what we're monitoring here. we get the latest manufacturings, the latest editorial information, the latest video. we heard a while ago that the french foreign minister is on his way to israel. he will meet later on today with israeli leaders, including the president, the prime minister, and the foreign minister.

he might meet with the palestinian authority as well. again, a cease-fire. he will try to push that forward, but right now we don't know whether or not that's being flagged as realistic by both sides. >> mick, we're hearing from some of these people. i understand you had some sound come in this morning that you want to share with us. tell us about that. >> earlier the u.k. british foreign secretary, william hague, he spoke to sky muse about the potential for a ground invasion and actually how catastrophic it could be. take a listen to this. >> the prime minister and i have both stressed to our israeli counterparts that a ground invasion of gaza would lose israel. a lot of the international support and sympathy that they have in this situation, but, of course, it's much more difficult

restrict and avoid -- a large ground presentation in the conflict. >> that was a u.k. foreign secretary william hague speaking to sky news earlier. now, casualties have mounted on both sides, not just in israel, but also in gaza, with more than 50 dead in gaza. at least three killed in israel. hundreds of rockets finding their way from gaza into israel. this is an ongoing situation, and the war between -- the warring situation between israel and palestinian militants is definitely taking its toll. we're keeping an eye on it, vick orror. >> nick valencia covering the international desk for us. we're going from the middle east to the far east now, and that's where president obama spoke about the middle east. just a few moments ago the conflict there while holding a news conference in thailand. our white house correspondent dan lothian is in bangkok. what are we hearing from the president? we had it live. he talked more about burma and thailand and the trade there. what are we hearing his views as it relates to what's happening

in israel with gaza. >> well, you know, are you so right. the main purpose of the president's trip here is to focus on this region and what this means for future expansion, for u.s. many terms of business, for military cooperation, but while advisors had been telling us about the sentiments within the white house, about the ongoing conflict between the palestinians and israelis, and we've gotten statements from the president, this is the first time we've heard the president weigh many. when he was asked a question about the violence there at the press conference. take a listen. >> there's no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders, so we are fully supportive of israel's right to defend itself from missiles landing on people's homes and workplaces and potentially killing civilians. >> so the president said that the administration is working to find a way to prevent those missiles from raining down to

keep this violence from escalating. the president pointing out that he has been speaking by phone with prime minister benjamin met hue, also the president of egypt morsi, and the president of turkey. this is all part of an ongoing effort, as i pointed out to keep the violence escalating. there are positive indications of some movement there, but still, this violence ongoing there, viktor. >> there's a lot, dan, to discuss about the trip and this asia summit. it was really telling, and i truly sent it out through a tweet when someone asked about burma, and the president said this is not an endorsement. it's an acknowledgment of the reform. tell us more about the message for this trip. >> the president is responding to some criticism from some corners saying this visit is too soon. the administration did send secretary of state hillary rodham clinton healthing there last year, and they have an ambassador there, and many believe that's enough because it is the beginning of a long journey, the administration

says, essentially the first few miles of a long journey. what the president -- the point the president was trying to make and others inside the administration is if you were to sit back and wait for there to be a perfect democracy in that country before you actively start engaging with them, then you would be sitting around waiting for a long time. the president pointing out that he is not going there to sort of celebrate that they have finally achieved great democracy there, but, rather, that they're on this long road. they have taken some actions, and now the united states is responding with some action as well, and that's a presidential visit. >> dan lothian live traveling with the president many bangkok. we're going to go to sar gentleman seidner in just a moment. live to gaza city. we'll show you the side of the conflict. we're now going to go across that border and show you what's happening in gauze wra. stay with us. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym.

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>> israel's war planes and navy ships have been pounding targets in gaza. those attacks have killed dozens of people so far. cmn senior international correspondent sarah seidner is live in gaza city. we heard those sirens, and we know that that's the warning that something is coming. what's the frequency that we're hearing those now that those warnings to civilian that is the air strikes are coming? >> well, here in gaza they don't have sirens. what they have are the sounds of planes above, and that usually means people know that usually means that there will likely be an air strike coming sometime after that. you're also hearing the buzzing sounds of drones above. usually throughout the day yesterday. we heard them the entire 24-hour period that we were up and listening to the sounds of what's going on here in gaza. i can tell you this. usually here what you are seeing in the streets are a few more people and there have been over the past few days.

we've seen a few neighborhoods where buildings have been levelled by air strikes. we also talked to people who lived in some of those apartments there and lived many the homes nearby, and they were told that there was going to be an air strike. they were given some warning to evacuate, and they did. in one particular building it was three stories high. flattened like a pancake. however, there are 15 people injured. no one killed, surprise leg whsh you look at the pictures, it seems impossible. many of the families were left because they were given warning. just behind me there is a building there that is hamas's official television station, and that building was hit. they were also warned, the journalists inside, that there was going to be a streak at some point. many of the journalists evacuated, but the strike didn't happen for several hours, so some of the journalists returned, as one of the journalists told us as we looked at the damage. some of those were injured. it's one of those situations. there aren't the sirens here. the sirens are in israel when the rockets are coming from here and going over the border to

israel, but here it's really the sound of planes m sky that makes everybody worried. viktor. >> well, the rocket launching sites, we know that israel has targeted those. you talked about al aksa behind you. what else are they targeting? sarah, i don't know if you're able to hear me. i asked you about what else they're targeting in gaza city. do we still have sarah? seems like we've lost sarah. reporting live before us in gaza city. we'll check back, of course. millions of syrians, let's go to that crisis. the homeless because of the ongoing civil war there. a "new york times" columnist shares their plight and the growing humanitarian crisis after seeing it firsthand. ♪ 100% greek. 100% mmm... ♪ oh wow, that is mmm... ♪

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syria's opposition is getting more organized. they've named an official coalition ambassador to france. it's a move seen as critical to garnering more international support for their battle against syrian president bashar al awes yad. the op sfwligs group says more than 250 people have been killed and fighting in syria over just the past couple of days. "new york times" columnist nicolas krzysztof just returned from an assignment in syria and cmn's randikay e asked him how civil war is affecting the people and the people of neighboring countries. >> the humanitarian situation is getting worse. you already have 2.5 million people who have been kicked out of their homes, and, you know, winter is coming, and just the stories are just so heart

breaking, randi. first her home was destroyed by a bomb, and then her husband disappeared, maybe shot by a sniper or arrested. nobody knows. so now she's gone from, you know, this nice, normal, middle class existence like you or me to living in a tent with her kids as presumptivetive widow, and you just see that over and over and over. >> it sounds heart breaking. why were you there? >> i was trying to figure out the situation in syria, and what we can do about it, and, you know, it does seem to me that we've kind of dropped the ball on this, and that we were reluctant to get engaged. >> we meaning the u.s. and the administration? >> we meaning the u.s. and really the whole western world. i mean, i think lrp some really

good reasons to be cautious about getting involved in syria, but i think that the very reasons that we were cautious that those consequences have come to pass in a sense because of our passivity that radical elements have been strengthened, the whole region has been destabilized, and there is a risk at this point that syria is just going to turn into another somalia right in the heart of the middle east in ways that could haunt the region for many, many years to come. >> i know you've been critical of the obama administration's policy towards syria. you're not suggesting boots on the ground, though, right? i mean, what do you think the administration should be doing differently? >> that would be a disaster all around. it would be -- it would certainly never happen. i think, though, that things we can do would include a no fly zone imposed by nato from turkey. those missiles hopefully would have the affect of just keeping

syrian planes out of northern syria chshgs would give the rebel forces maybe a chance to break the stalemate. there is more intelligence and training to the syrian rebels, and also i think providing arms to those rebels, although i would have to say not anti-aircraft weapons for fear that they would end up in the wrong hands. these modest steps we can take that might break the stalemate and end the civil war there and the faster it ends, the better for syrians and also the better for the world. >> we like to think of you as a rock star, so i was impressed to see you hanging out with bono from u2. he asked you if you have ever been accused of crossing the line from journalist to activist or both? >> i do get accused of that periodically, and when you are out many the field and you see people, you know, being slaughtered in darfur or you see

young teenage girls being imprisoned in brothels in cambodia, it's really hard to say, oh, i'm going to be neutral in this situation. at the end of the day we're humans first and journalists second, and, you know, particularly as a columnist i would rather come out against some of the mass slaughter, mass atrocities and be pretty clear about that. >> thank you for your firsthand account from syria. we appreciate that. >> thanks a lot, randi. take care. israel and hamas battling it out. a former u.s. ambassador to israel and syria weighs in on the potential for peace. plus, jewish dating. singles using her faith to find love on-line. does it work? a couple joins me live to share their story. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. every day nearly nine million older americans

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welcome back. i'm viktor blackwell. here are some of the stories we're watching this hour. air raid sirens and explosions have been cutting through the air as violence in israel and gaza intensifies. israeli anti-missile defense batteries have been working overtime trying to shoot down hamas rockets. many of those rockets are being intercepted near the border, but others are being shot down close to tel aviv far inside israel. in just a moment i'll be talking with a former u.s. ambassador to israel to get his take on what's going on there right now. divers found the body of a man believed to have been one of two crew members missing after an oil platform exploded friday in the gulf of mexico.

at least one other person is still miss, and 11 others were injured in that blast. we have a baby m studio. you'll meet her in a moment. its cause is still under investigation. and in arizona democrats will keep the u.s. house seat once held by former congressman -- congresswoman, rather, gabrielle giffords. representative ron barber narrowly defeated republican martha mcsally to serve his first full term in arizona is hes second district. in june he won gifford's seat in a special election after she stepped down to focus on her recovery after being shot last year. parts of the northeast still need help after superstorm sandy that destroyed their homes, shattered their lives. it happened three weeks ago. vice president joe biden is in new jersey this morning to tour the recovery efforts and thank first responders many some of the hardest hit areas of sea side heights. back to the middle east where violence is ramping up. israel's prime minister says he is prepared to escalate attacks on gaza, and france is sending

their foreign minister to help broker a cease-fire deal egypt is standing up for gauze wra. joining me on the phone from houston, texas, is a former u.s. ambassador to israel and syria. ambassador, britainan's former prime minister, or the prime minister currently secretary former -- let's try that dpen. the former secretary and israeli ground invasion of gaza would cost israel a lot of international support. do you agree with that? >> yes, i do, because in 2008-2009 israel conducted a ground invasion of gaza. there were many, many casualties. over 1,400 on the palestinian side. i believe 300 on the israeli side. it was a major military movement that is very disruptive to the stability of the region, and

basically the end result was that israel conducts these operations very necessarily to protect its population, especially in the south of israel from rocket attacks from hamas and palestinian islamic jihad, but at the end of the day as someone said, it is just mowing the grass. every time it goes in and goes out, it goes in the interim the ham whereas and these other groups rebuild their rocket arsenals and then after a hiatus of a year or two we're back in the same place we're seeing today. >> we saw something like this, and hate to interrupt. we saw something like this a few years ago back in 2008, beginning of 2009. the difference then was that mubarak was in control in egypt, and we knew where mubarak stood. the question now is where does mohammed morsi stand, and how important of a role does he play in ending this before it gets too far? >> i think president morsi of

egypt plays a critical role. he and his government are, as we speak, trying to broker a cease-fire. he is being aided and supported in these efforts by important arab players such as the prime minister of turkey, the crowned prince of qatar and cairo. even the tunisian prime minister that's visited gaza, and this is a muslim brotherhood president who has very close ties to hamas and, therefore, he is a valid interlocuture. >> i don't think they want to see a ground war or an extension of this conflict because it will destabilize an already destabilized region, especially considering what's happening in syria. >> ambassador let's talk about israeli politics as former ambassador to israel, you know the political system there well. we just finished our election. there's an election coming up in january. how much of this could possibly

be the prime minister showing the strength of his administration as he stands there at the boarder? >> i think there's an element of that. i think the first thing is the fact that the rockets, especially the rockets that have a range of about 45 to 46 miles and that can come close to even tel aviv, that that is the immediate catalyst for this operation, but there's no doubt that prime minister netanyahu see some political utility in showing a hard line to protect israel's national security interests, and especially since he has been advocating military action against iran for a long time now and that doesn't seem to be immediately the on horizon. this bolsters his credentials as a strong defender of israel's

population. >> ambassador, also the director for the baker institute at rice university, former ambassador to israel, former ambassador to syria. thank you very much for your thoughts this morning. for faces of faith this morning we're talking about people who use their faith to find a date and love. it's become so popular there's an entire industry based on the concept. it makes sense. if you are mormon, you may have trouble finding another mormon date, so there's lds singles.com. for christians the majority religion in the u.s., there's christian mingle. you probably have seen the commercials. even muslims are on the hunt for a date. muslima.com is one of the more popular sites. finding a partner of the same faith is important to many jewish-americans, so they use j date and the site talks about its results. >> different sides of the country. >> here we are madly in love

with two kids later, and if it wasn't for j date, we never would have met. >> going on j-date led to this amazing life that i have. >> i knew by the second date. >> i know you heard a baby. you thought is that baby somewhere? yes, her name is willa. she's here with her parents, jason and melissa. they met on j-date, married last year, had the baby, willa. hello, willa. thank you for joining us this morning. both of you, thank you. tell us about the importance of finding a date -- good morning. about finding love and the importance of religion in finding that. >> i grew nup a very traditional jewish household, and it was very important to me to pass that on many my family that i would be making, you know, in my life, so it was always important to me to marry somebody jewish, and when i moved to atlanta, it was kind of my excuse to sign up

for j date, that i was new in town, and it was an easy transition to make when i moved here. >> we were talking during a break that my question was are you the rule or the exception to the rule, and you actually know other people who have met on j date and now are married. >> a bunk of couples. hung out with some couples yesterday that melt on j date and are married. my best friend. >> my best friend. >> they have kids. >> it's very popular. i think in large cities with a large jewish population it's very popular. >> tell us your story. you went on and found melissa's picture, right? >> i originally saw melissa's picture. she had blonde highlights. not to sound shallow. wasn't into blondes. >> that's the point of the picture, right? >> you are going to know -- >> it's the most important thing. >> you don't get to talk to the person, so you are making the determination 15 to 30 seconds from the picture. >> yeah. >> passed on her. sorry. one of my friends -- one of my fraternity brothers had dated

her, told me he dated her, and i said do you mind? i felt that i should ask him. he said sure. went back on-line and saw her picture, went to j-date, pursued it, and had a date with her, and here we are. >> all right. >> we've been married for four years. >> four years. >> we celebrated our four-year anniversary. >> just had the baby last year. >> yes, she's 10 months. >> active this morning. >> she's very excited. >> there are some people who say you should just find love when it comes to you and be open to other possibilities. what do you say to people who may be critical of the idea of a website that is so limited in their opinion? >> well, i think people that sign up for j date are obviously looking for somebody jewish just like christian mingle or other sites, so you're going there to meet somebody of that respective religion, but like in our story, you have to keep an open mind. i mean, there might have been things about his profile that i didn't like, but, you know, i thought he was really good-looking, so i went out with

him, and four years later we have a beautiful daughter and, you know, we have this amazing marriage, so if you keep an open mind, then it's cliche, but it's true. >> go ahead. >> i think if you know what you are looking for, if you want to date jewish, you go there. i mean, can you go to other web sites that offer up all different nationalities, races, but if you are looking for jewish, if you are looking for muslim or christian, are you going to go to a specific website. >> that's one thing i wanted to ask. i know that on other web sites the people say it's marketed towards a specific group. there are other people outside of that group. we have a producer coming many to get willa. thank you, lauren. there are people from outside of that group who may be looking for someone in that group, like someone who is a christian who may be looking for a jewish date. are there nonjew on j date? >> i remember seeing them on there. >> is that offensive? if you are going to j date, and you think why are all of these nonjews here?

>> i personally would not have gone out with somebody nonjewish. everybody has their reasons. i mean, if you are on j date because you want to meet a jew, then obviously you are going to continue that in your relationship and what could be further, so if you are christian and you are looking for a jewish person, then obviously, you know, you would be open to going to synagogue, raising your family jewish, celebrating the holidays. they're on there for a reason. >> you see this as the future? this is something that's growing? >> why not? it's -- i used it six years ago, seven years ago, eight years ago. why not? i mean, it's -- i met her. great baby. great life. why -- i would definitely endorse it. i would say don't be embarrassed about the internet. there's no reason to be embarrassed. check it out. go to these web sites. why not? >> like he is saying, you know, that was six years ago, so it's even more accepted now, and it's

such a wide range. anybody from our age to people like his mother's age. >> and still growing. >> jason, melissa, willa, huh so much. for more stories on faith, be sure to check out our widely popular belief blog at cmn.com/belief. a live report from nick valencia who is monitoring the israeli-gaza conflict from the cnn desk, and he has new information. this is how mommy learned... ...and now... you! [ giggles ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios

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let's go to the middle east news desk monitoring the relations between israel and

gaza. nick, what's the latest? >> we've been here all morning, viktor. this is the cmn international desk. this is the hub of our international news gathering division. behind me you see editors working with our correspondents in the field in gaza and israel and other parts of the world, but over the last couple of days we created a very specialized desk here to monitor all the nuances coming in out of gaza and the middle east. this is one of our international news desk editors ali. you have been watching a lot of different feeds coming in. what are you learning today? what are you seeing? >> we monitor both sides of the conflict. we watch, for example, the jerusalem channel, which is a hamas-funded based in gaza. they've told us about what's going on from their side of the conflict and where basically iraqis are falling, how many families were injured as a result of that bombing. at the same time we are watching the israeli channels in which they cover their side of the conflict and they talk about how many missiles that they have

intercepted for metropolitan tel aviv. we also monitor the print jooed media. >> what you have up here, one of the newspapers prosecute the region? >> yes. this is a west bank-based newspaper. it covers the palestinian as a whole perspective. in the meantime, we also monitor the social media. we cover the idf operations as far as their twitter account and they update their twitter account with developments and their statements, official statements on the conflict. >> thanks for that. viktor, that's just a snap shot to let you see how we're getting what we're getting, and just new information in just a little while ago at the cnn international desk. you're hearing from nabila, a spokesperson for the arab league. he confirms to cnn that a delegation from the arab league will head to gaza on tuesday. if you remember, foreign ministers from the arab league met yesterday in an emergency meeting in cairo, egypt, to discuss the conflict in gaza and israel, so the latest information now. an arab league delegation on its way to gaza on tuesday. that's the latest from the

international desk. we'll send it back to you. >> nick valencia, staying on top of all of it. nick, thaernks. congress has spent the week trying to get to the bottom of the benghazi attack on september 11th. we'll talk about it with candy crowley and ask what's next. ♪ ♪ ♪

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and still pay the mid-size price. this is awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is, business pro. yes, it is. go national. go like a pro. let's turn our attention to washington where lawmakers are trying to figure out what the obama administration knew about the deadly attack on bengauze where i. cmn's state of the union host candy crowley is live in washington. candy, good morning. what are lawmakers expecting in this investigation? >> well, you know, what's interesting is this investigation -- and there are many of them going on, not just on capitol hill. you know, there's an outside one as well. has to do with the run-up to what happened in benghazi. was more security asked for by the ambassador himself prior to this horrific event in benghazi?

were they aware of any kind of increased security because it was 9/11? then there was the attack itself. what the heck happened? how was it that we lost four americans in that attack that went on for hours and hours? why didn't help come? there's many questions. then there's the aftermath, and that is, wait a second, when did the administration know it was not about a videotape, it was not about a riot outside the benghazi consulate? it was, in fact, a terrorist attack. was it a planned terrorist attack? who were the terrorists? do we have them in custody? it really kind of runs the gambit from before the attack to after the attack. >> and, of course, the big story we're following this morning is what's happening at the boarder of israel and gaza. a rocket and the bombing back and forth across that border, and what the role will be of the new president of egypt, mohammed

morsi and what, if any, u.s. role will be in ending this before it gets to a ground offensive. >> right. one of the things, obviously, is just -- it's we seen these sorts of things, high tensions before over decades and decades, but the middle east has changed. as you point out, if president mohammed morsi in egypt, whatsoever role is he going to play? we know he has talked to the president. we know that there have been some people in i had rail that have said we need to see more american involvement right now what is very clear is that this administration, the obama administration, would like president morsi of egypt to play a constructive role in getting the rockets to stop coming from hamas over into israel. they have gone as far as the tel aviv area. he has urged president morsi to try to get hamas to back off, and he has also urged prime minister netanyahu not to go in to gaza.

at this point that's what we know that's been said in private. that's also been out will in public. so it is a dicey situation. not just because it always is in the middle east, but because the middle east has chapged so much over the arab spring has new leadership that can you no longer go to hosni mubarak, the former president of egypt, and say you immediate to stop this in gaza. it just doesn't work like that anymore, and it makes what's already a tinderbox even more toxic and scarier, if that's possible. >> we'll see the results of the arab spring as it relates to israel and to gaza. candy crowley, thank you. be sure, everyone, to keep it here. state of the union with candy crowley starts in about, let's say, seven and a half minutes. at 9:00 a.m. eastern, 6:00 a.m. pacific right here on cnn. time to stock up. dean obadallah is here with the zingers. the twinkies are going away too.

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>> there's a box of twinkies in that grocery store. not just any box of twinkies. the last box of twinkies that anyone will enjoy in the whole universe. >> the last box of twinkies. that's a scene from the columbia pictures comedy "zombie land." people have been tweet about that all morning. soon the world will be out of twinkies. who knew? that's because hostess announced it's been shutting down, and people have been hoarding twinkies. boxes of normal twinkies are on sale on ebay for more than $50 a

box. it's been a long road for the cream-filled pastry, which became a part of the american lexicon. the twinkie was born in 1930, but following a nasty labor dispute and almost a year in bankruptcy, hostess brands is closing its 33 bakeries. dean obadarlah joins me now, and this is unbelievable. not only that the twinkie that is haz gone away, but that people are really upset about this. >> it's a snack apocalypse. there are articles many the "new york times", the washington post, forbes, people eulogizing the twinkie, and they're saying it was in the movies or they grew up. they're taking their childhood away. people talking about loving the fact that eating deep fried twinkies, which you should only eat in an emergency room because i cannot think is good for you in any way. people for some reason it holds a place in people's heart. i don't understand -- i don't miss it. >> i have never had one. i have never in my life had a twinkie, so maybe that's why i don't get it. maybe that's why. do you think people are going too far? >> i have never seen people

overreact to a snack food in my life. obviously we're really getting to the point where it's in pop culture and iconic and it represents something in people's childhood, which i don't understand. it's just a snack cake, folk. there's tons of other ones. >> you say that there are tons of other ones. if -- okay. maybe for you it's not twinkies. what would it be for you that if the company went out of business and it went away, you would be heartbroken? >> well, snapple iced tea. i'm not kidding. i'm a comic, and i tour, and one of the fist things i do is i look for snapple. we all have our comfort food. that's my comfort drink. i like the drink. >> when you are on stage, instead of having a gin and tonic on stage, you have a snapple iced tea. >> water on stage usually, but i'll try to have one or two snapples a day. i know it's not good for you, and i guess the same idea for twinkie, but it doesn't represent my childhood. it's just something i enjoy. i have never seen a reaction to a snack food ever like this. >> i feel bad for zingers.

i feel bad for zingers because it quite almost literally is the red-headed step child of the hostess brand. no one is sad to see -- >> if you can buy. i went to store after store. there are no twinkies before atlanta. you can't fwet it. these you can get zingers. no one cares. >> who wants zingers? >> it's going to be -- i'm sure we can find replacement smacks for people if that's a problem. >> there are some people who are happy to see twinkies go, though? >> well, it has 150 calories in each little cake. it got high fruk toes corn syrup and 37 ingredients, some i have never heard of. i don't think they're found naturally in the world. >> no eggs and butter. >> they're created in some kind of bizarre laboratory, but people enjoy the flavor knowing it's a guilty pleasure. we all know what you eat that, it's not good for you, but it tastes good. >> twinkies are going away, but look, there's always pop tarts. >> you got this. >> chocolate donuts. >> you got this stuff. >> who can forget about big texas? >> i don't know what these are. they are generic products that ou